Mercedes’ Hyperscreen offers 56 inches of screen real estate, one inch more than the Cadillac Celestiq and eight inches more than the Lincoln Nautilus. Other notable mentions include Cadillac Escalade (38 in), Lucid Air (34 in), and Buick LaCrosse (30 in). Alfa Romeo had different priorities because internal research showed its customers didn’t really want a giant display that stretched from one corner of the dashboard to the other.
Talk with Car, Italian automaker boss Jean-Philippe Imparato said future models won’t receive large screens: “I respect what Mercedes is doing with its digital technology, of course, but my customers aren’t looking for a meter-wide infotainment screen in their car or 200 digital assist systems to turn on and off.” He went on to say Alfa buyers generally don’t want to know what the weather will be like in three weeks because they just want to drive the car.
Imparato says the “cannocchiale” (telescopic-style double-cowled instrument cluster) will remain, equipped with a large head-up display. Interestingly, Alfa Romeo officials say the HUD can project a “ghost car” to help the driver better position the car on the road. He added that the first model to get the new dashboard layout is slated for release in 2025 and will adopt the STLA Brain electric architecture.
By 2023 standards, the screen that Alfa Romeo offers is small considering that Giulia and Stelvio have an 8.8-inch screen while Tonale gets a 10.25-inch infotainment. All three cars feature a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster. Twin to the Jeep Avenger, the as-yet-unnamed fourth model is slated to come out next year as a small crossover to become the company’s first EV.
In a previous interview, Imparato said future models would get infotainment with “special features” and a screen size of “greater than 13 inches”. Upon entering any of the next-generation models due for release in 2025, owners will be asked whether they want to drive themselves or let the car do all the work, according to Imparato. Frankly, that sounds easier said than done, but the idea behind what the CEO said was to avoid confusion about how the car behaves – whether it’s “manually” driven or not.
Since we mentioned EVs earlier, an ICE-less Quadrifoglio model is already planned with as much as 1,000 horsepower and next-generation battery technology with support for wireless charging. Before the electric revolution begins, the petrol-powered supercar will open on August 30.
